


Seeing Double

by lallyloo



Category: Eagle of the Ninth Series - Rosemary Sutcliff, The Eagle | Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Genre: M/M, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-13
Updated: 2012-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-31 02:41:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/338985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lallyloo/pseuds/lallyloo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for the prompt: Tired from all the hard work on their farm, Esca wishes there were two of him. Both he and Marcus are shocked when the wish is fulfilled. The new Esca is exactly the same as the old one and they get along splendidly, working, hunting and sleeping together in perfect unison.  After a few days they begin to notice Marcus's foul mood, and come to the conclusion that he feels left out and lonely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeing Double

“On days like this, I wish there were two of me.”

It takes a moment for Marcus to appear around the stable door, his shovel coated in muck and his brow damp with sweat. “You should ask the gods to send another of you then,” Marcus smiles, sticking his shovel into the ground as he lets out a deep sigh. “Work would go faster if we had another MacCunoval around.”

Esca wipes his brow, grinning at Marcus as he considers the statement. It would do them well to have another set of hands on the farm, and, aside from Marcus's, there aren't any hands he'd trust more than his own.

“Gods, I beg you!” Esca shouts, throwing his arms into the air, staring up at the sky as the sun beats down on them. “Send me another Esca MacCunoval! With a face and heart the same as mine, and the strength to match!”

“Though with less of a tongue on him!”

Esca laughs loudly as he looks over at Marcus. He should be insulted, but the grin on Marcus's mouth tells him he doesn't mean it. “Yes!” Esca shouts, smiling at Marcus as he does so. “Perhaps with a softer tongue, so as not to offend certain Roman sensibilities!”

They're too busy laughing to notice the dark cloud that blocks the sun for a moment, bathing them both in shadow, and by the time the sun is shining brightly again they're back to work in the stables, none the wiser as to what they've done.

*

When Esca wakes to find himself staring at a visage identical to his own, he lets out a shout, and sits up quickly, staring down at the figure in his bed.

“Is this a dream?” Esca asks, his eyes wide with surprise, and the man in his bed stares back at him with seemingly identical shock registering on his brow. “Surely I am dreaming.”

“If it is a dream, then we dream it together,” the man says.

Esca glances around his small sleeping area, his eye stopping on the curtain that separates his room from the rest of the house. “You are the exact image of me,” Esca whispers, hoping his shout of surprise hasn't alerted Marcus.

“I am,” his double says with a nod.

“How has this come to be?”

“I remember little before today. I simply woke to find myself here in this bed, staring into a face similar to my own.

Esca can't help the suspicion in his voice. “How do you know my face is like your own, if you remember little before today?”

“It is difficult to explain,” the double says. “I have your memories, but they are as if I see them through another's eye. I know I am you, and I know you are me.”

“Then do you know why you're here?” Esca asks, his mind flashing back to the previous afternoon and his ridiculous prayer to the gods. Surely they haven't granted him this, of all things.

“I believe I am here to work, and to make your life easier.”

“And how long will you stay?”

The double shrugs. “I suppose that is up to the gods.”

Esca pauses to consider the situation, finding himself surprisingly undisturbed by the presence of a replica of himself in his bed. “I will have to tell Marcus.”

“He won't like it,” the double says, “he'll be wary.”

“I see you do have my mind then,” Esca laughs quietly. “You're right that he won't like it, but I think I can talk him into seeing reason in the situation.”

“Then I'll leave you to it.”

*

The double was right in suggesting that Marcus would be wary.

When Esca broaches the subject, telling Marcus that the gods have brought him a body double, Marcus lets out a guttural laugh and continues eating his breakfast.

“I'm glad to see you laugh,” Esca says carefully, “though I must tell you I speak the truth.”

“And I am glad to hear it,” Marcus replies, laughing again, “perhaps the gods have granted me a body double as well! I'll have to check the stables for surely he's in there shoveling horse muck to save me the trouble of it.”

“Marcus.”

“Esca,” Marcus replies, his tone teasing.

“I kid you not.”

“Fine.” Marcus breaks off a piece of bread and sets it on the table next to him. “Perhaps we should invite him to breakfast then. Shall I set a third place?”

“Esca!” Esca shouts, causing Marcus to jerk his head in surprise. “I knew he would not like it, but I didn't expect that he would not believe it!”

“Esca..” Marcus says, worry registering on his brow. The worry is quickly replaced by terror as a voice identical to Esca's emanates from his sleeping quarters.

“Shall we show him?”

“Yes,” Esca calls, “come.”

As the double steps through the curtain, Marcus looks as if he's about to fall off his chair. Esca reaches across the table and sets a hand on Marcus's to steady him. “The gods have done it.”

“Done what?” Marcus asks, staring incredulously at the double. “Surely this is some sort of trickery.”

“It isn't. He is me. A perfect double.”

Marcus slowly breaks his gaze, turning back to Esca, glancing down at Esca's hand on his own. “How do you know this? How do you know that is you?”

“He looks like me,” Esca explains. “He speaks like me, he has my thoughts and memories.”

“He could be lying.”

“And he knows you,” Esca continues. “He knew you'd react this way, that and all the other reasons are enough for me to believe it.”

Marcus sighs. “Assuming this is true, how long will it last?”

“Neither of us know. He's here for as long as we need his help, so however long that may be.”

“And you are fine with it?”

“I don't see why not,” Esca grins, “He's me, and there aren't many others I'd trust more than myself.”

“You assume he is you.”

“Look at him,” Esca gestures to his double, “does he not appear to be me? Same face, same build, same voice. If he is not me, then surely he is my long-lost twin.”

“He does look like you.”

“That he does.” Esca gestures to his double, inviting him to the table. “Sit with us, eat. You'll need your strength for the work we have ahead of us.”

The double joins them at the table, nodding politely to Marcus as he takes a piece of bread.

*

The first day runs smoothly, with a third pair of hands proving to be great help on their farm, and Esca's double falls into perfect step beside them. With Esca's memories and knowledge, he seems to know instinctively what needs to be done, and the three of them toil in companionable silence until their work is complete.

The sun is still high in the sky when they finish, and all three men seem surprised to have completed their chores so early in the day.

“A third set of hands seems just what this farm needed,” Esca says, clapping his double on the back. “We are finished for the day, and there is still plenty of daylight left.”

“What shall we do with our time then?” his double asks, wiping his brow.

“Shall we hunt? I admit I'm curious to see how our alike minds would work together in a hunt.”

 

They settle on a short hunt, pulling the horses from the stables and preparing them as Marcus wishes them luck and disappears into the farmhouse. If it were an ordinary day, Esca would have suggested that Marcus accompany him on the hunt, but as the day is far from ordinary, his mind is too distracted to consider it.

The hunt goes well. They get three hare, and have a close call on a boar before they decide to save the boar for another day and head back to the farmhouse.

Esca is sure Marcus will be pleased with the amount of meat, and when Marcus takes the skinned hares from him with little more than a smile and a nod, Esca is sure it is simply unease left over from their conversation that morning.

“He'll be an asset to the farm,” Esca whispers.

Marcus says nothing as he puts the hares over the fire.

*

The days pass quickly.

Esca's double sleeps in his bed, falling tired at the same time as Esca, and managing to rest without disturbing Esca's sleep, both of them curled up on their right sides, knees bent so they fit together as pieces of a puzzle might.

They rise at the same time each morning, and enjoy the same breakfast of bread and eggs and fruit. They greet Marcus with a smile, yawning as they fight off the last remnants of sleep, and Marcus nods to them both, always asking if they slept well.

With an extra working body, the chores go more quickly than they ever have before, leaving the three of them with spare time to do with as they wish. Esca takes advantage of the extra daylight hours to do plenty of hunting and fishing, amused that his double has the same techniques as him, and when they fish he has the same poor cast as Esca, a technique his father tried to break him of for many years.

“I can catch them better with my hands,” Esca explains.

“It's true,” his double replies, tossing aside his makeshift pole and wading into the water. “Give 'em a tickle.”

“If I doubted you were me before, I don't doubt you now,” Esca laughs and follows his double into the river.

 

When they bring home four trout that evening, Marcus informs Esca that he's lost his appetite and tells Esca to cook them himself.

 

It's been a long while since Esca has cooked a meal, Marcus having taken over the duties when they settled into their farmhouse. Esca always assumed it was guilt that had done it, as if Marcus felt he owed a debt to Esca, or that he didn't want Esca to feel like a slave under their roof. Once, Esca had teased that Marcus hated his cooking, but Marcus was quick to correct him. Marcus seemed happy to perform that duty for them, and if it meant Esca wouldn't be burning his own dinner each night he was happy to let Marcus do it.

 

“You know I'll only burn them,” Esca says as Marcus disappears behind the curtain to his room.

“Peel off the black and eat the inside then,” Marcus mumbles.

Esca turns to his double, who meets his gaze with an equally confused expression.

“Perhaps he's ill.”

“Perhaps,” Esca replies.

The two Escas cook the fish together, managing to burn all of them despite every effort they make to avoid it, then eat their meal in silence. Marcus doesn't emerge again, and when Esca feels himself tiring he tells his double to head to bed without him.

 

“Marcus?” he calls, tapping his knuckles against the thick curtain. When he hears Marcus hum, Esca pushes open the curtain and steps inside. “Are you alright?”

“Only tired,” Marcus replies, remaining on his side, facing the wall.

“If you are ill, I can bring you something. Water? Mead?”

“I am fine, Esca, truly. I only need sleep.”

Esca pauses for a moment.

“Should be a fine day tomorrow, perhaps the three of us could go on a hunt.”

“The two of you seem to do well enough without me,” Marcus mutters. “I'd only slow you down.”

“That's untrue, and you know it,” Esca snaps, “but stay home and pity yourself if you'd rather.”

When Marcus says nothing, Esca pushes through the curtain and heads to his own room.

 

“He is not ill,” Esca says to himself, when he finds his double looking up at him with worry. “He claims to be tired.”

“That doesn't sound like him.”

“He's pitying himself as well,” Esca continues.

“He'll be better by the morning, I imagine.”

Esca nods, ignoring the unease in his gut.

*

Marcus is just as pitiful in the morning, barely glancing at them as they emerge from Esca's room.

“Any better today?” Esca asks, studying Marcus's face as he takes a seat across from him.

“I would say I am the same as yesterday,” Marcus replies. “Weary.”

“Should we head to the stables without you this morning? You could take the day to rest.”

Marcus glances up at him for a moment, looking unamused. “Perhaps you should work without me from now on, since the two of you get on so well.”

“What's got you so foul?”

Marcus tosses down his half-eaten bread, pushing back from the table and sending his chair screeching across the floor. “I'll be in the stables. If you two work the field today we won't have to cross one another.”

“Marcus,” Esca begins, frustrated when Marcus ignores him and heads for the door. “Fine then, you big lout, spend the day in the stables and maybe by dinner your braccae will be in less of a twist.”

His double watches Marcus leave, and then turns to Esca. “I am starting to suspect my presence is more of a hindrance than a help to the two of you.”

“No, it _is_ a help,” Esca replies with a shake of his head. “Give him time and he'll see reason.”

“He's been stomping around the farm since the day I arrived.”

“He likely feels left out. He'll come 'round.”

Esca's double cracks open an egg and hands it to him, then cracks open another for himself.

“He's in love with you,” the double says. “You see that, don't you?”

Esca sighs to himself. “Of course I see it.”

“And how do you feel about it?”

“You have my same heart and mind, don't you? So you must know how I feel about it.”

“I do,” the double says, picking up Marcus's half-eaten bread and taking a bite. “Though I haven't yet figured out why you've done nothing about it.”

“Fear, I suppose.”

“Fear?” his double scoffs. “We're not afraid of much.”

“Not much, no,” Esca nods, lowering his voice as he mumbles into his plate. “But I do fear losing him, and telling him might scare him off.”

“I can't imagine he'd be scared by it. I've seen the way he looks at you.”

“At us.”

“Not us,” his double laughs. “I might look just like you, but his eyes are never on me. It's _you_ he's been watching.”

Esca continues eating in silence.

“Perhaps if we approached him together.”

“Together?” Esca nearly chokes on his bread. “For what purpose?”

“To reassure him at least, and then to get the two of you into bed together.”

“He'd never – ”

“He'd never what? Want two Escas?” The double grins at him. “And how would you feel if there was suddenly another Marcus, one kissing your mouth and the other offering to suck your cock?”

Esca remains speechless as his double continues, “Have you forgotten that I know your mind? I know perfectly well how you'd feel about another Marcus, and it's quite likely he'd feel the same, given the opportunity.”

“You don't know him,” Esca says, suddenly unsure about his double.

“I do know him, and I know you.”

Esca sighs in defeat. “Let me consider it.”

*

They see very little of Marcus that day, toiling in the fields as Marcus cleans out the horse stalls. By the time their work is finished, they catch sight of Marcus stomping down to the river, his leg paining him – Esca is sure of it by the way he walks.

“Give him time,” Esca warns, not wishing his double to do anything too hasty.

“I'll move only on your signal.”

When Marcus returns with two freshly caught fish, he brushes past Esca's double, nodding briefly at Esca before spearing the fish and placing them over the fire.

“Have you caught enough for us all to eat?” Esca asks.

“Of course,” Marcus mutters, not turning from the fire. “We are three now, so it should be that we all share what we manage to catch.”

“After dinner I can rub your leg, if you wish it.”

He can see Marcus's gaze fall. “Please,” Marcus says quietly, “if you would.”

 

They eat in relative silence, with Marcus retiring to his room after the plates are cleared.

Esca motions to his double to wait as he follows Marcus through the curtain, an action which isn't out of place for the two of them. Long days are often hard on Marcus's leg, and Esca is always quick to offer some relief, placing warm rags on his leg, and then using his hands to knead the muscle.

Marcus removes his tunic and lies on his bed, his gaze turned away from Esca as he waits.

“You've been quiet lately,” Esca says.

“It is only because you've been busy with the other Esca.”

“You needn't feel threatened by him.” Esca moves toward the bed, sitting himself at Marcus's side and placing his fingers lightly upon Marcus's leg, massaging him through his braccae.

“I haven't felt threatened,” Marcus snaps.

“Left out then,” Esca says, pressing his fingertips in a little harder. “Marcus, if you wish him gone, I'll send him away.”

“I don't,” Marcus begins, refusing to meet his gaze. “I don't wish to send him away. He's you, so I would never.. I only wish..”

Esca listens as Marcus trails off. “What do you wish?”

“At times, I wish it were just the two of us again.”

“And if he is here forever, what then?”

“I suppose I will grow used to it,” Marcus admits, “so long as you don't forget I am here as well.”

“And would you forget me if there were a second Marcus here now?”

“No, I would never – ”

“And neither would I,” Esca says. “I work well with him, but he is not you.”

Esca can feel the tension within Marcus begin to ease, and he rubs Marcus's leg until the look of relief on Marcus's face tells him the pain has subsided.

“Better?” Esca asks, and Marcus nods at him.

“Much, thank you.”

They're interrupted by a rustle in the doorway, and Esca's double peeks his head through the curtain.

“I told you to wait,” Esca whispers, looking from his double to Marcus and then back again.

“I have the same mind as you,” his double replies, “I knew you didn't fully mean it.”

“What is this?” Marcus asks, looking to Esca for an explanation.

“He thought,” Esca begins, “I mean, _we_ thought you might be feeling lonely. We thought you might want company this evening.”

“And all evenings to follow,” the double adds, and Esca shoots him a look of warning. “With him,” the double adds, “and me, as well, if you'd like it.”

“Esca,” Marcus whispers, suspicion in his tone, and Esca reaches for Marcus's hand.

“If you'd like it,” Esca says, slipping his fingers between Marcus's, “only if you'd like it.”

“With both of you?” Marcus asks.

“With both of us,” Esca repeats, watching Marcus, looking for any signs that he is ready to run.

“You should remove your braccae,” the double interrupts, and Marcus instinctively reaches for the ties, fumbling to undo them. Esca smiles at the motion, standing to give Marcus some room, and once the ties are undone his double joins him and they both reach down to pull Marcus's braccae over his hips and down and off.

Marcus's cock is already half-hard, resting against his thigh, and he stares up at them with awe as they quickly remove their clothes. Once undressed, their similarities are even more apparent, their different clothing no longer making it easy to tell which Esca is which.

They join Marcus on the bed, resting themselves over his thighs, both being careful of his bad leg. Esca lifts Marcus's cock, now almost fully hard, the weight of it heavy in his hand, and the warmth of it oddly comforting. He's seen Marcus naked before but never like this, never this close. Now he's close enough to see and smell and touch, and he takes a moment to inhale, breathing in the scent of Marcus before his double is elbowing him discreetly and encouraging him to taste.

A moan of pleasure escapes Marcus the moment Esca takes him in his mouth, and Esca seems barely able to hold back his own sounds of lust as he sucks at Marcus's cock, slightly unsure of how to go about it, but wanting to give Marcus as much enjoyment as possible.

Marcus grips the bedclothes, his head tilting back as he fights to keep his eyes open and on both Escas.

His double nudges him, and Esca pulls back for a moment, allowing the other Esca to slide his mouth over Marcus, sucking him with as much enthusiasm as possible, though seemingly just as unsure about it as Esca had been.

“Is it good?” Esca whispers, and Marcus can only nod and smile and breathe out 'yes.'

Esca leans in, joining his double over Marcus's cock, one kissing the head of it, while the other moves lower to lick Marcus's balls and the sensitive skin on the inside of his thighs. They switch spots when Esca decides he wants to cover Marcus's hips with kisses, and then again when his double decides he should lick at Marcus's stomach, and when Marcus seems barely able to take it any longer, his cock dark and full and leaking between them, Marcus reaches out, looking at them both.

“Which one of you is – ”

“We are both Esca,” Esca explains, kissing Marcus's cock, as his double licks down the length of him.

“No,” Marcus shakes his head, “which of you is _my_ Esca.”

“He is,” the double says, giving Esca a friendly shove.

“I am,” Esca confirms.

“I'd like to kiss you,” Marcus says quietly, reaching for him, encouraging Esca to move up the bed.

Esca lets himself be pulled, settling in at Marcus's side, holding his breath until Marcus's lips are on his, strong and eager and wanting.

“Marcus,” Esca whispers, pressing his cock against Marcus's hip and rutting against him as they kiss.

Marcus holds him there, not letting him move away as the other Esca sucks at Marcus's cock, and Esca can feel the moment Marcus's climax hits him, his breath hitching and his body stilling, and Esca kisses him through it, holding onto him as Marcus comes in the other Esca's mouth.

As Marcus's shuddering subsides, his hand moves to cup Esca's face, kissing him hard as he touches his cheek, then his jaw, down his neck, then over his chest and stomach until he's hovering just above Esca's cock. Esca ruts against his hip again, encouragingly, and Marcus touches him, finally, clasping a great hand around Esca's length and giving him a few swift tugs. He seems just as unsure of it as Esca had been over Marcus's cock, but his enthusiasm makes up for it as he pulls Esca to his release. Marcus breaks away for a moment to watch Esca's face as he comes, then kisses him again, hard and breathless as if he can hardly believe the moment is happening.

 

“Esca,” Esca says after his breathing has calmed, looking down at his double. “Would you like – ?”

He pauses when he catches sight of his double, his head resting against Marcus's thigh and his stomach streaked with his own seed.

“I've taken care of myself,” his double says, grinning up at them.

“Come,” Marcus replies, motioning for the other Esca to join them at his side. “You should lie with us, at least.”

The other Esca accepts the offer, settling in on the opposite side of Marcus, and it's barely a minute or two before he's drifting to sleep as Marcus leans over to kiss his Esca again.

“Did you like it?” Esca asks, kissing languidly at Marcus's mouth, sleep coming over him as well.

“I did.”

“Then your mood will be less foul tomorrow?”

“I imagine my mood will be less foul from now on,” Marcus admits.

“I'm glad.”

“I apologize if I worried you.”

“No need,” Esca says, “and I apologize if I made you doubt my feelings for you.”

“No need for that either,” Marcus replies, “and besides, we are here now.”

“Yes, we are, and I fear we may need to build a bigger bed.”

“It will be no trouble,” Marcus smiles at him. “We've got three pairs of hands.”

“Go to sleep, the two of you,” the other Esca mumbles. “Plenty of work to do tomorrow.”

Marcus looks worried for a moment, and Esca laughs as he kisses the worry off his mouth.


End file.
